Learning to Lean 
(Responsibility Lesson)
Grade 2

Leader Hints: Think of how being responsible has helped you in your career and your life. Were there times you were irresponsible that hurt you? Think of how others' responsibility/irresponsibility helped/hurt you. Your students need to know that responsibility is important to you. By jotting down these formative life experiences before the lesson, you'll have them to share during the discussion time.

Today we want to discuss "responsibility." Does anyone know what responsibility is? (After some input, try to come up with a simple definition such as "doing what you're supposed to do." Write it on the board.)

To understand the importance of responsibility, let's start with an activity called "Learning to Lean." 

Divide into groups of 6 or 8 - it must be an even number. Ask each group to stand in a circle holding wrists securely and counting off in order, dog, cat, dog, cat, etc. 

Instruct the students: "When I say 'cats!' all the cats lean forward while the 'dogs' lean back. Keep holding hands so that you'll support each other from falling." (Say it and see how they do.) Okay, when I say 'dogs!', all the dogs lean forward and the cats lean back."  

Discuss the Activity

1. Do dogs and cats normally help each other? 
2. How did they help each other in this activity? (Without each other being responsible to hold them up, they would have fallen.)
3. Why is it good for us to be responsible to help each other, even when we're different?

(Option: If you've got Web access, find pictures or videos of dogs and cats being responsible for each other. I found several good ones at www.youtube.com by searching the phrase "cat and dogs getting along".) 

Discuss Real Life - (This is where we try to help students to move past understanding responsibility to wanting to be responsible.)

1. How do you feel when people let you down? (Teacher: do you have a personal story about this to share to get the ball rolling and to let students know how strongly you feel about responsibility?)
2. How can being more responsible, even to people you don't get along with, help us? (Teacher: again, a personal story?) 

What Does Responsibility Look Like? (Brainstorm)

Let's think of as many ways to be responsible as we can. Who's first? (Write their ideas on the board. Ideas: cleaning up your bedroom, obeying your parents and teachers, doing your homework, taking dishes to the table, being quite when you're supposed to, etc.)

Conclusion

(Copyright November, 2007, Steve Miller and Legacy Educational Resources, www.character-education.info )